A Man Asked Asisat Oshoala What Football Had To Do With Her
Lagos · Saturday 26 September 2026
Asisat Oshoala commented on a social media post about the Brazilian footballer Raphinha and was answered by a man asking "Wetin concern woman with football?", who then told her to go and cook for her boyfriend. She replied publicly, and drew attention to how women are treated when they talk about the game.
Who he was talking to
A six-time African Women's Footballer of the Year, a Champions League winner in Europe, and one of the most decorated players Nigeria has produced of any gender. She was named in this year's TIME100 list of the most influential people in sport. The man asking what football had to do with her was, almost certainly, talking to the most accomplished footballer he will ever address.
Same country, same week
| Women's football this week | |
|---|---|
| Osinachi Ohale | Retired with five WAFCON titles |
| Asisat Oshoala | Told to go and cook |
Both are true, and the second explains why the first gets less coverage.
A woman does not need permission to have an opinion about football. She certainly does not need it when she has won more than the man replying.
The answer that matters
Oshoala answering at all is a choice, and a costly one, because every reply invites more. She did it anyway, which is the part worth crediting. The more useful response from everybody else is simply to cover the women's game properly, week in and week out, so that the question stops sounding reasonable to anybody.
Reporting: Sports247 Nigeria and TIME.
Read next
- Roberto Carlos Says He Lost 99 Per Cent Of What Football Paid Him
- Two Debutants Scored, And Nigeria Came From Behind To Beat Madagascar
- Tinubu Says He Is Correcting Past Mistakes, And Asks For More Time
If you argue about Nigerian football for a living, you may as well dress like it. Caps and tees are in the TalkTalkNigeria store, and Naira pricing is here.
